This invention pertains to a yarn package holder for textile machines and, more particularly, to an improved type weft yarn package holder for so-called outside filling supply or shuttle-less looms.
In looms of the outside filling supply type, that is, those looms in which the weft yarn is supplied from an outside source and is not carried to and fro through the warp shed by the shuttle or carrier itself, it is common practice to utilize a creel on one side of the loom to support and position weft packages from which the required weft yarn is withdrawn during operation of the loom.
Supports for yarn packages, where the yarn is wound onto a hollow tube, in which an adjustable or elastic holding device, provided at the middle of the tube holder, engages the inner wall of the tube are known. The existing supports, however, exhibit several disadvantages. One disadvantage is that in some types of support the support is firmly attached to the tube. Another disadvantage is that many of the existing adjustable supports are provided with complicated adjusting mechanisms which make their manufacture very expensive; so much so that from an economic standpoint alone, it prevents their being used extensively in the textile industry. One such adjustable support device is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,394, issued Nov. 26, 1974, to Raasch et al. This patent discloses a yarn package holder for receiving and securing a conical or cylindrical tube. This patent discloses a very complicated device for expanding a series of levers inside of the package to clamp or to hold the package on the support. As pointed out above, the mechanism shown in this patent is very complex and difficult for the operator to operate.
Another adjustable support for yarn packages is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,735 issued July 10, 1973, to Alfred Koenig. The yarn holder of this patent is embodied in an adjustable support comprising a spool holder provided with a shaft which at its free end has an external screw thread. A plurality of holding devices, slideably surround the shaft. Each of the holding devices comprises two longitudinally spaced annular portions which are connected with one another at their outer peripheries by a plurality of outwardly bowed spring layers. A nut engages the external screw thread of the shaft and abuts one of the annular portions of the holding device. As the nut is turned down on the shaft, the axial length of the holding device is decreased and the extent to which the spring layers are outwardly bowed is increased. The bobbin support may thus be adjusted to the shape of the tube so that it can support and hold the bobbin securely. Each holder comprises several of the spring-loaded holding devices. One disadvantage of this holding device is that it must be manually adjusted for each different diameter tube utilized thereon, and no means is provided for maintaining the yarn package in a fixed position relative to the creel on which it is supported. For example, the yarn package may become skewered on the support, thereby causing problems when the yarn is withdrawn at high linear speeds by the loom.
It is, therefore, a general object of the present invention to provide a yarn package support or holder which is readily adjustable to receive and secure packages wound on hollow tubes of various diameters without the necessity of adjusting the holding device.
A more specific object of the invention is to provide a yarn package support or holder which will receive and secure yarn packages wound on hollow cylindrical tubes of various diameters and to maintain the packages' orientation during the unwinding operation on the loom with respect to the creel.